Hiss Golden Messenger

★★★★

O Come All Ye Faithful MERGE. CD/DL/LP

MC Taylor reclaims Christmas from crass commercialism.

If not for the title and the inclusion of three traditional carols, you’d be hard pressed to mark out O Come All

Ye Faithful as a Christmas LP. No sleigh bells, no reindeer, no Noddy Holder. Hiss Golden Messenger’s MC Taylor instead sets out to tip the seasonal scales back towards quietude and reflection rather than the turbo-charged tunes blasted out in shops across the world. So intent is Taylor on allowing the listener to draw breath that his versions of CCR’s Long As I Can See The Light and Shine A Light by Spiritualized make the already-contemplative originals sound like Mariah Carey by comparison. His own songs, particularly the yearning Grace, are heartfelt and relatively chipper country-folk, making the entire package a perfect accompaniment to that final ruminative dram of whisky before bed on Christmas Eve.